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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A Birthday Outing

This dress has been in pieces for months. It was originally meant for a mid-year Sew Weekly challenge, but something else must have come up because I folded the pieces with the pattern tissue and put it aside.

I have been wondering what happened to all of my pins for a
couple of months – turns out, they were with this dress – whoops! [From past experience I can tell you that it is a very bad habit
to leave pins in fabric because after time they may rust - the same goes for brooches, so make sure to remove them from garments before storing.]

I ended up shortening the skirt and sleeve
length. I also raised the cutout of the
back bodice so no special undergarments are needed. Although, I did have to add two ribbon and
snap bra wranglers. The weight of the cuffs
create a bit of pull through the shoulders and make the neckline want to slide
off my shoulders - the loops help to keep everything in place.

One of my favorite details was a scalloped edge on a few of the tutus. Having worked with tulle in the past, I
cannot imagine what a pain in the behind it must be to cut a scalloped edge
that matches back to another layer of scalloped edge tulle!

The one thing that really surprised me was the quality. The incredible fabrics and exquisite details are amazing and look more fashion house than costume shop.

I cannot
imagine there are more than a handful of dance companies in existence, if any,
that use silk tulle and silk velvet these days.
What is even more amazing is that I spotted very few tears or repairs on
the costumes.

Oh, to be a ballerina and get to flounce around in a tutu! Although the broken toes and bunions and pain cannot be fun - I will just admire the incredible athletes from afar! I suppose those girls deserve some beautiful costumes to wear considering all of the sweat and tears that go into a single performance.

This is a very pretty dress! I purchased this pattern and love seeing it sewn up. On a totally unrelated subject,I've been reading your blog for some time, so I noticed when someone posted a pattern to We Sew Retro today that the lady in the cover art is your vintage pattern doppelganger. http://wesewretro.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/inspiration2.jpg

Thanks Kelly! The scarf is my own pattern. I just made a simple crochet grid in a long rectangle and then made a ruffle all around the edges. To make it more interesting, I randomly added beads as I was crocheting.

Years ago (pre-sewing hobby) I worked for American Ballet Theatre. The costumes were indeed breathtaking. Costumes are exquisitely made because you can't have trim or beads flying off mid fouette. As I recall they cost several thousand dollars each. Toe shoes cost $120+ a pair (that was over 10 years ago) and lasted for a single performance.

About Me

Chronicling my adventures in creativity. I adore sewing and knitting, mostly vintage or vintage-inspired patterns. I hope this blog will inspire others to create lovely and lasting garments that speak of a past era and yet remain timeless and elegant.